Curtain fastener



Jan. 19, 1932. 1 REn-R 1,841,630

CURTAIN FASTENER Filed July 8, 1930 ENTOR Patented 55112..,19, 1932 LUES'REITER, 0F PROVIDNGE, RODE ESLND CURTAIN FASTENER appucaunniea my s, 193e.l serial No. 465,477.

rihis invention relates to stud and'socket fastenersand particularly, to the type of fasteners known as three side lock fasteners,

wherein one fastener element such as the .E stud is secured to a stationary part such as the body ofan automobile, andanother element such as the socket is secured to a movable part, such as a curtain or similar part adapted to be separably attached in place,

m In three side lock fasteners, the fastener elements cannot readily be separated except by a tilting movement applied at a particular side. Previously known types of studs for such fasteners allow the stud head to pass i.; too readily through the socket soas at times, to project unduly therethrough, o'rthe studs are else so shaped as to be so resistant to passage through the socket, that considerable difficulty is often experienced in projecting the stud throughthe socket a suiiicient distanceto receive more than one socket. VVVMy invention contemplates the provision Y of a stud so shaped that the undue movement of the stud through'the socket is resistedl ai. without interfering with the ease of separation of the fastenerparts, and without pre- *.f'enting the passage of the stud through the socket a distancesuilicient to enter another socket; l Y .Y f

My invention further A`contemplates the provision kof a stud so shaped aslto be automatically maintained inproper normal op-v erativeposition in the socket to prevent rattling,and'dissipatlng the excess force exerted 3,5 upon the'socket to fasten it to the stud whereby the socket Vis normally halted inv its proper positionrelatively to the stud. v f The, various objects ofk 4my invention will be clear from thefdesc'ription which' follows, and from the drawings, in which, Y

Fig. 1 is aV front elevation of my improved fastener as it appears applied to a curtain en mi Y or similar sheet of material and in'assembled,

position, v I

taken on the livi1"e`2f2A of Fig. 1.v Y

Fig. 3 is a horizontalsection of the taken on the lin'e 3-3 of Fig. 1.

Fig. L1 is a similarview of the same, showsame,

'face of the plate.

[FigjQ is a vertical section vof, the same,VV

ing'howy the stud may, under slightly excess y pressure, be forced past its normal limiting vposition in. order lto permit Aof the reception of an additional socket; y y Fig.` 5 is an elevational view of a modied form of thestud end, showing, particularly, the shape of the groove of the stud, and

kIligt is a similar view of another modified form of the stud showing another shape of the groovev Y Y In that practical embodiment ofV my invention kwhich I have illustrated by way of example, the socket assembly 1() is suitably secured in the usual manner yto a member of sheet material such as the automobile curtain 11.Y The socketassembly comprises the casi ing 12, having an aperture as 13 thereinpfor thepassage of the stud head, and'provided with prongs as 14 extending Afrom the casing wall and adapted to pass through the curtain 11 vandV through suitable apertures in the front plate 15 vand in the rear plate 16. The sheet or curtain material 11,y it will be understood, is interposed between tlieplates 15 and 16, and is preferably provided with lan opening as 1,7 for the passage of the stud. i The front plate 15 is` normally held to the casing 12 as by means of suitable integral clipsV or pron jections 18 extendingfrom the side walls of the casing,'and turned over on to therear front plate 15 and the casing 12 is the spring 19 made preferably of round spring wire and suitably shaped to conform in kits greater part to theperipheral shape of the casing walls. Y Y

The spring 19is` provided with a pair of substantially paralleldiametrically arranged stud gripping ljaws as 20. The ends 21 of theY jawsA 20, under the contracting influenceof the remainder ofthe springare normallyin Contact but mayV yield about the bendsL 22 thereof under the pressure of the 'stud head, as is wellknown. g l

The stud 23 may be secured in any suitable Y manner to V74the part to which the socket or vthe sheet 11 is to be separably attached. Any

well known means such .as eyelets, rivets, screws, bolts or thel like may beprovided interposed betweeny the at the endy of the shank 24e of the stud 28, for securing it in placev and suchr means being CTI well known in the art, no description nor additional disclosure thereof is deemed necessary. The head 25 of the stud is tapered and preferably conoidal in shape, and is separated from the shank by means of a suitably shaped circumferential groove 2T. The inner wall 28 of the groove thus joins the head and the shank of the stud.

As illustrated in Figs. 2, and 4, the wall 28 of the groove is tapered, being preferably of conoidal shape. It is of less diameter at one end 29 than it is at the other end 30. The diameter of the end 30 is less than the diameter of the shank but greater than the diameter of the end 29. 1n the position of the stud shown in F' 2 and 3, the spring jaws 20 restin the wider end of the groove in contact with the shoulder l1 of the stud head 25, and in Contact with the groove wall 28 at a point spaced somewhat from the shoulder. This position is the normal position of the stud since'the stud is forced into said position owing to the tendency of the spring portions 2O to contract. Conti-action or movement of the j aws 20 towards each other, causes the spring to act upon the wall 28 in such a manner as to force the socket in ay direction toward the deeper or wider end of the groove or the narrower end of the groove wall until the movement of the socket is halted bythe engagement of said spring portions with the shoulder 31, when further movement of the socket is prevented. 1t will be noted that the depth of the groove at the end 29 is such that the wire aws 2O extend slightly beyond or outwardly of the stud head for the purpose of allowing the jaws to be spread, and the stud head disengaged therefrom when the socket and stud are relatively tilted in the proper direction.

To attach the socket to the. stud, the stud head is passed through the aperture of the plate 16 and through the aperture 1T into engagement with the spring jaws 20. As the spring jaws are forced on the stud head, said jaws are spread by the conoidal stud head until the jaws pass the shoulder 31 whereupon the jaws 2O move toward each other and contract into engagement with the wall 28 of the groove. Since, however, considerable force is required to push the socket past the stud head, the socket continues to move for a short distance under the manual pressure applied thereto, so that the spring, instead of stopping to rest against the shoulder 31 as it should, moves along the tapered wall 28 until it comes in contact with the shoulder 32. Said shoulder is of less depth than the shoulder 31 but olters suiiicient resistance to further relative movement of the socket and stud to halt movement of the spring past said shoulder.

1 have found that the distance between the shoulders 29 and 3 should be approximately two to three times the diameter ofthe wire of which the spring 19 is made. The excess force exerted in assembling the stud and socket is partly absorbed in spreading of the spring jaws 20 apart due to the shape ot the groove wall 28, so that as the springl reaches the shoulder 82, the greater part of the assembling force has been absorbed.

The shoulder 32 therefore need be only about half of the d iametcr of t-he wire of the spring 19 in order to adequately halt the relative movement of the stud and socket at the proper point.

It willr be seen, however, from Fig. 1, that if considerable additional force is exerted upon either the stud or the socket more than is required to assemble them, the spring 19 may nevertheless he forced past the shoulder 32 if desired. Due to said shoulder 32, the force required for this purpose is much greater than that required merely to assemble the stud and socket into their operative positions. As illustrated in F ig. 5, the groove wall is of slightly different shape, terminating as at 34 in a concave portion of substantially the diameter of the wire 19 so that said wire may iit thereinto, the remainder of the groove wall being preferably substantially conoidal. As illustrated in Fig. 6, the groove wall 3:3 is of conical shape instead of conoidal shape, the spreading action of the wall upon the spring 19 being thereby more rapid. ln the forms shown in Figs. 3 and (i, the shoulders 31, 32, 36 and 37 lie preferably in planes at substantially right angles to the axis of the stud.

It will be understood that the groove wall may be given shapes other than those illustrated as will be obvious to those skilled in the art provided that that end of said wall adjacent the stud head is of less diameter than the other end of said wall which is adjacent the shoulder 32 or 37. Owing to the tapered shape of the wall, however, it will be understood that if the spring 19 becomes arranged for any reason at any point in thc groove other than in its normal position, the parts, when released, will tend t0 move automatically into their normal positions provided that the socket is not moved under excess pressure into the position shown in Fig. 4.

In other words, should the socket illustrated in Fig. #l be raised. until the spring shown passes the shoulder 32, the socket when released will automatically move upwardly until the shoulder 31 contacts with the spring jaws and without necessity for any further movement of the parts by the user.

The socket may, however, be removed from the stud in the usual manner; that is, as viewed in Fig. 2, by moving the lower end of the socket toward the left and thereby causing the shoulder portion 31 to spread the spring jaws 21 and 20. Tilting of the socket loo relatively to the stud at any other ever, will fail to'spread said jaws.

It will be seen that I have provided simple and eii'ective means whereby the Stud of a three side lock fastener is automatically maintained in its proper operative position without interfering with the separable action thereof, that the normal i'orce of the securing movement is insufficient to cause the stud to proj ect-'too tar through the socket, sulicient play being provided in the stud groove yfor absorbing such` excess force, Vand the limiting shoulders on the stud and the depth of the groove being so. proportioned as to` carry out the purposes' of the invention eii'ectively.

llihile I have shown and described a speciiic embodiment of my invention, I do notV `the prior art and theterms of the appended claims.

I claim: Y

i. A stud and socket fastener comprising a socket member including a casing, and studengaging'spring wire jaws mounted in the casing, and a stud for engaging saidijaws,

terminating in a conoidal head and provided with a circumferential groove adjacent saidv head, and having a shank, they wall of the groove lbeing ktapered to provide a pair of spaced shoulders of different widths forming the ends of the groove, and the length of they groove ybeing at least twice the diameter of the wire of said aws to spread the aws as the jaws arenioved in the'groove from the Wider tothe narrower'shoulder, vand to permit the jaws to contract to move the socket automatically in the groove Ytowaid'the widei' shoulder on the release ot the socket when the jaws are nearer the narrower shoulder, the narrower shoulder lying in a plane perpendicular to the axis of the studand thereby preventing movement oi the aws on to the shank of the stud on ythe exertion of the normal force needed for assembling' the stud and socket', but not preventing suoli movement on the exertion orP slightly greater force.

A stud and socket fastener comprising an apertured socket including a casing, means for securing Said casing to a sheet of material and a length of spring wire arranged in said casing and having spring jaws crossing the aperture of the socket, and a circumferentially grooved stud having a conoidal head, a shank, the diameter of which is substantially `that of the greatest diameter of the head, and

having a wall joining the shank and the head and forming the innermost part of the groove, Vsaid wall being of less diameter adjacent the head thanitis at a point adj apoint., howshoulder' halting the relative movement ofthe jaws and the stud 'during the normal asi sembly Voflztli'e stud'and the socket, but being of insuiicient width to prevent the jaws from being moved forcibly past said shoulder to project the stud from the socket a sucient distance for the reception by the Vstud of K another similar socket.

.3. LIn a threer side lock fastener, an aper- 'Y tured socket, a length `of spring wire arranged in said socket and having spring jaws crossing the'aperture of the socket, and a `circumierentially'grooved `stud for the socket, the stud groove having a wall arranged coaxially of the stud and being of less diameter at the end adjacent the head of the stud than atfthe other end, the diameter of saidy other end beingless than the outer diameter of the stud'beyond said groove, to .form a shoulder extending inwardly from` the surfaceotthe i stud, in a plane v'substantially perpendicular to the axis of the studgtosaid other'end of thewvall aV distance less than the diameter of theu-'ire, and the length'of the groove being at least twice as great as thediameter of said spring wire." i

' 4. In a stud, a conoidal head, ashank, the

diameter of which is substantially the-same asl the greatest diameter of ythe head, 'and' a walljoininglthe sha-nk andthe head, saidV wall being of less diameter at the extremity thereof adjacent theihead than at the other extremity thereof, and the greatest` diameter` otsaid Ywall being at 'said other extremity and defined by .a circle of less diameter than thel diameter 'of the shank to provide a shoulder of substantial width connecting the circle forming said other extremity of the wall and the surface of' the shank,theoutermostdiameter oi' the shoulder'V being equal to the diameter of the shank, 'and' the surface of the shoulder being perpendicular to stud. Y Y f 5. "Ihe coinbination'with a round spring wire element cfa socket, ofa stud having a circumferential groove provided .with a bottom wall intermediate of the ends of the stud, the bottom wall of the groove being tapered and providing a shoulder at each end thereof, one of the shoulders being of greater width than the other, both of said shoulders being of less widththan the diameter of said wire, and the narrower shoulder lying ina plane substantially perpendicular kto theV aXis of the stud and serving as a Vstop for halting assembling movement of the wire element on the stud.

the axis of the 1 In a stud, a conoidal head, a shank having agroove Yat one end thereof separating the head from the remainder ofthe shank, the wall of said-groove being conoidal for the greater part ofits length and terminating in a con .ave .fillet adjacent the head to -form a shoulder adapted to receive and fit a round spring Wire,k the various diameters of Said wall differing in size from each other, and all ot' said diameters being of less diameter than that of the shank, and a shoulder comprising a substantially flat surface defined by substantially sharp edges at that end of the Wall adjacent the shank.

7. ln a stud, a conoidal head and a shank, said head and shank being separated by a groove ot substantiallv the same length as that ot' said head, the Wall of the groove being conical and the greatest diameter of said wall being defined by an internally recessed corner of a diameter less than the diameter of the shank.

ln a stud, a conoidal head and a shank, said head and shank being separated by a groove, the Wall of said groove being con- Vex and of greater diameter at one end adjacent the shank than at the other adjacent the head to form shoulders of different innermost diameters arranged in planes at right angles to the axis of the stud.

9. In a stud, a tapered head and a cylindrical shank, said head and shank being separated by a groove, the Wall of said groove being of greatest diameter adjacent the shank and of lesser diameter at points intermediate the head and the shank to form a pair of shoulders2 one adjacent the head and the other adjacent the shank, said shoulders being of dii'erent Widths, and the wider shoulder being arranged in a plane at substantially right angles to the axis of the stud.

i0. ln a stud, a tapered head and a cylindrical shank, and a portion integral with and connecting said head and shank, the outer surface of the connecting port-ion being oi less diameter throughout than that of the shank and the end thereof nearer the head being of less diameter' than the end thereof nearer the shank. a reentrant surface extending trom the surface of the snank to the lastmentioned end, and a circular edge defining` tl e ju cture of said reentrant surface with said end.

LUES REITER. 

